I have always wonder why superheroes dress like ballet dancers?
Any clue? :dubious:
Actually they dress like circus performers, especially acrobats and strong men.
Was Superman the first superheroe, isn’t? I wonder if the author draw him that way purposely.
Because they have perfect bodies. If the average person had a body like that, they’d probably often dress a lot more like superheroes; in tights and showing lots of skin. Plus their superhuman nature can make the inconveniences of such clothing irrelevant; a girl who can walk on the moon and lift a truck isn’t going to get cold from a skimpy outfit or sore ankles from high heels. Or, for that matter will she have much problem with sexual harassment no matter how she dresses.
You’re confused. Ballet dancers dress like superheroes. It makes them look more macho.
I have never seen a superhero in a tutu.
It makes them easier to draw.
Seriously it’s tough to get normal clothes looking non-stupid in the air/space/damaged. Capes are there to make it easier to suggest movement. The colours are because old printers had difficulties with subtle shades.
Welcome to the SDMB, pinguin. We have a forum for the arts where we discuss both comic books and dance, so I’ll move this there.
twickster, MPSIMS moderator
This. If I had good superpowers, I’d be damn tempted to wear the silliest thing I have, just to see what people said.
I beleive The Phantom was the first hero to wear a skin-tight suit. bonus points for his white eye slits!
This is 100% true in my experience. Literally every guy I know who hits the gym enough to be actually ripped (and not just “in shape”) starts wearing those skin-tight UnderArmor t-shirts instead of normal t-shirts everywhere once they hit a certain point of fitness.
Not ballet dancers - acrobats.
Lee Falk’s Phantom of the comic strip wore the garish tight uniform with the briefs on the outside and preceeded Superman by a couple of years.
There’s a thread talking about capes, and the surmise is that circus strongmen of the early 20th century wore tights to show off their bodies, and used capes to wrap around and keep warm but easily shed for wrestling and whatnot. When comics were first visualizing superheros, they copied the motifs.
Ballet dancers wear skin-tight outfits for the same reason - to show off their form, and to not hinder movement.
NO CAPES!: The Incredibles - No Capes :) - YouTube
This.
The points others made about how skin-tight clothes don’t get in the way when doing super-heroic things is valid. I’ve also heard it said that they wear bright colors to draw attention to themselves and away from the innocent civilians. Again, that does have an internal logic. But in the end, the truth is that they were drawn that way because it was easier, and they used the colors they did because they were the easiest to use. Oddly enough, the most easiest colors were purple and green, which is why they got used so much.
I recall a Marvel comic scan I saw of a grinning Hercules throwing someone by his cape saying “A cape?! Why do you think I stopped wearing a lion skin over four thousand years ago?”
*<fling> <SMASH>
*
I like my mom’s theory that it makes them easier to recognize. I think there was another thread here where it was decided that Oliver Queen would be the only superhero you’d be able to recognize out of costume.
I went to school with the Naked Guy and at the time, I said that if I looked like him (and was a guy) I’d probably go around naked too…